The Potion
by Bellaralo
Summary: A new Dark Lord has risen, and Hermione is the only one who can stop him. In line with the books, takes place 3 years after Voldy's death. Hermione/Draco.
1. Chapter 1: The day the world changed

Authors Note: Just came to me today, and I had to start writing it. I know the whole storyline, for the most part. This should not be a super long story, and should end up being about 50,000 – 75,000 words if I go crazy with it. Story is in line with everything in the series. Actual current events take place three years after the Dark Lord is destroyed.

**Chapter One – The day the world changed**

No one expected it, we believed the war was over, and the Dark Lord was vanquished forever. The court cases had been settled, death eaters were rotting away in Azkaban, but in Lord Voldemort's absence a new Dark Lord had risen. Behind closed doors and secret whispers a plan had taken into effect that would change the wizard world as we know it.

It happened just two years after Lord Voldemort was destroyed by Harry Potter, and no one knew that this attack had taken place until wizards a witches did not come home from work, and people did not return from visits to the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry had been on lockdown, and for those who had been unlucky enough to be there that day will forever regret not coming in to work that day.

The new Dark Lord, Lucius Malfoy, had come across the most powerful weapon, more powerful than the fear of death. This weapon would force someone who had grown accustomed to living a magic life, and take that away, forcing that person to live a life as a squib. This weapon was a potion, a potion that could be converted into a vaporized weapon which would, because of weaker dosage, only temporary suppress magical abilities, or if the potion was taken in straight form it could suppress magic for a lifetime.

They hit the Ministry full force; they came in and released their weapons, and forced all mudbloods to take the straight potion there on the spot, and forcing them into a life of slavery under Lucius Malfoy's command. Once the new Dark lord had hundreds of hostages it was easy for him to recruit people into his army. By wielding fear, Lucius was able to force an entire generation of muggle born witches and wizards into a life of slavery. Once Lucius was the minster of magic, it was easy for him to gain control of the entire magical population of Europe.

Muggle-born witches and wizards, also named mudbloods, once given the potion they were magically branded, categorized based on skills, looks, health and were sent directly into slave market were they would sold or traded among death eaters. The removal of mudbloods was seen as purification of tainted magic, and to free bloodlines for purebloods to flourish. Half-blood women were forced into marriage if the she were beautiful enough to catch the eye of a pureblood man. If they did not marry, they could take the potion and remain with their family, or they could submit themselves into the Dark Lords army, remaining a witch with limited freedoms.

However some mudbloods avoided the attacks and were hidden from the mudblood holocaust. One such person happened to be Hermione Granger. She was hidden for a year from the deatheaters, and had remained unbranded until today. Today a rebellion was forming and she was the only person smart enough, brave enough, tempting enough to save them all. An opportunity had presented itself, and she would risk her life, her magic, and go head first into the dragons den.


	2. Chapter 2: Preparations

**Chapter 2 – Preparations**

Grimmauld Place was busy this morning Hermione thought as she wrestled her way into a seat at the dining room table. Hermione was not the only muggle born hiding here, and she was being greatly annoyed by two other muggle born wizards right this very moment; Dennis and Colin Creevey. At least they weren't entirely worthless and Colin was quiet an amazing fighter because of his training in Dumbledore's Army. Hermione rolled her eyes as the two brothers were once again debating on who would have won the Quidditch World Cup this year, if there was one.

"I am telling you it would have been the Wimbourne Wasps, Ludo Bagmans son, Magnous Bagmans, was going to be a beater this year, and you know he would have been the best out there." Said Dennis as he shoved his face with mashed sweet potatoes covered in gravy. The gravy rolled down his face and landed right back on the plate, only to be once again be scooped up with a spoon and shoved in his mouth again. How truly disgusting men are.

"I really doubt that a son of a man accused of giving information to a Voldemort informant is worth cheering for" Colin shot back quickly, and with an intense staring contest the fight ended just like that. This was an ongoing thing here at Grimmauld, the Creevey brothers like many other people here in hiding, used fighting or bickering about something just so they would not have to think about their fate if they were to be captured outside of the protection here. Hermione did not bicker; she spent her days learning new magic, most importantly wandless magic, as well as dark magic to protect herself on her upcoming mission.

"Quidditch is a waste of time, quite horrible and dangerous sport. I do have to admit that I miss it a little bit, anything is better than hiding in this house for a year, waiting for something to happen." Hermione said quickly, which was typical of her since Quidditch involved flying, and flying was something she would rather not do. Ever. Still the thought of going to watch the World Cup this year, which would have been this week, was just another stab at the fact that some things you really do miss when they are gone.

"Hermione! Nice to see you up and about so early in the afternoon, I saw you passed out on the couch by the fireplace last night; you needed a good night's sleep" said a very cheerful Harry Potter. You could tell his smile was forced; he, just like everyone here, knew what was going to happen to her today. She spent the morning mentally preparing herself for what was going to take place. She was going to get herself branded, categorized, and placed into a "mudblood slave market". It was by good luck that one of the branders was so easily bought off, so that he would brand her but would not give "the potion" to suppress her magical abilities. I am sure the man knew our plans, but he did not care, and he was happy with the small fortune he received.

"Are you ready to help me get ready Harry?" Hermione asked, knowing full well that "getting ready" was Harry doing spells on Hermione to make her appeared injured, a must-do for their plan, but a painful step to be taken. Harry answered "I am not ready, but I will do it anyways" a bit put off by Hermione's quickness to be beaten up.

"Alright I am going to head upstairs, I will meet you in my room, just come in when you are ready" Hermione stated as she grabbed a last bite to eat, got up from her chair, and headed in the direction of her living space. She lived in the library of course, not many people tended to hang out here, so Hermione felt it was best suited as her bedroom. It was one of the largest rooms in the house, not as private, but she spent hours every day reading, writing, and learning so it was just more convenient that she stayed here. She did not mind when people came in to get something to read, and most left as quickly as they came in.

It took just a few moments and Harry was in the room with her, he shut the door and placed a charm so no one could hear inside. He gave Hermione a sad look, took out his wand, and begun cursing, hexing, and even tossing her around until Hermione blacked out, which was good the worse stuff was about to happen to her.

When Harry was done, Hermione looked like she went threw hell. She had cutts, and bruises all over her body. This was what she needed to look like, since it had to be believable that she was captured. She would not die from these injuries if left untreated, and Harry picked her up and placed her on the couch until it was time to take her to the brander. It would quite possibly be the last time he would ever see his best friend.


	3. Chapter 3: Mudblood Purification Center

Author's Note: I am horrible at POV's and switching from first to third. Please try to ignore it, and it is a bad habit of mines that I cannot seem to get rid of. From here on it should be in first person.

**Chapter 3 – Welcome to the Mudblood Purification Center**

My head was pounding, and my body felt weak as well as bruised. I awoke with a moan, and I knew I was where I needed to be by the crying of people muffled by some distance. I was grateful that I was already here, since I never liked saying goodbye. I stood up, a little off-balance but I was able to walk to where I needed to go.

As I approached the _Dark Lords Army and Services Processing Center #14,_ I glanced above to see three signs. The first sign read "Pure-Blood processing, welcome to the Army!", then I read the next a sign that said "Half-Bloods Army registration & Marriage Consulting", and then the last sign said "Mudblood Purification Center" and it was towards that sign I walked to. Under each sign were two doors, one for female and one for males. I pulled open the door that said Mudblood females, and walked in.

It was dark and depressing here. In front of me was a hallway lined on each side with benches. The benches were metal, perhaps iron, and the walls were painted a dark gray. The building seemed new, but it had a smell of ashes, and body odor. The benches were half full with women, children, and some elders. Above me there was another sign stating that girls fifteen and older to be seated on the right and girls 16 and older be seated to the left. All women older than sixty needed to go to room 15, which was threw the doors at the end of the hall, and to the left.

Some women were crying, some were shaken and silent, but for the most part everyone looked the same. Everyone was thin, and ill looking. Everyone here had been on the run from the Dark Lord for a little over a year, and it was natural for everyone to appear pale since the likelihood of being outdoors much would be slim.

I sat next to another young woman, and waited as people got processed. On the walls were warning signs stating that to try to escape after entering the main door would lead to death, so kind of them to post in indoors, and the use of magic within this building would result in death. The last sign stated that drinking and smoking were allowed.

Normally waiting this long would drive a person insane, but in this case it was ok to enjoy the last remaining freedom I would have for months, perhaps years. You could hear people screaming in the distance, their cries are the reason I was here. I will do the best I can to stop this, and hopefully I can take down the Dark Lord as well. This was a large task for me, but my friends were right, I truly was the only person that could do this.

"Hermione Granger!" yelled a small, fat man, who was clearly older than sixty. This was him, the person that our activist group paid off to not give her "the potion" and to keep silent on the matter. I got up, looked him straight in the eyes, he gave a nod and reach his hand in the direction of the open door. "This way mudblood", however the hate did not reach his eyes, and I walked in.

In the room were just a table, and two chairs. I sat in one chair, and he sat in the other. On the table was a small camera, which he would take my picture with. "No need to smile, it is just for our records" he stated as he snapped a photo.

"Alright, let's get started. First I would like to let you know they are monitoring this room, and at any sign of resistance you will be killed." He stated quickly, looking me right in the eyes. "Next we need you to sign this form agreeing that you are a mudblood, that you agree the potion is to be taken, and please do not forget to date it" I signed the form, a small tremble went through my body at the words "I agree that I am a Mudblood, and I need to rid myself of the magic that I have stolen." And then I dated it.

"Alright, next you need to take this potion. Now it will sting a little, but overall it is harmless. This will remove your magical abilities" Hermione took a look at the potion, for a second she was worried that it was the real one, however the color was off, just enough for a skilled person like herself could tell something was added to it making it of no use.

"Bottoms up" Hermione stated, and while she felt no sting, she acted as thou she felt it, just to make the experience more believable. The potion however tasted awful, and reminded her of that time she ate that four year old chocolate frog as a dare from Harry.

"Next I have some forms for you to fill out. These will help us decide what type of service you will be providing to the Dark Lord. As you can see here" he pointed at each section "we have categorized skills that you may have. Please fill this out completely and truthfully."

I glanced at the parchment; it did have a remarkable amount of choices. There was a section for entertainment which included dancing, singing, and playing a musical instrument. There were sections for labor skills, like farming, and sections for trade skills like metal and wood craftsmanship. She checked off skills for cooking, cleaning, potion preparation, farming, magical animal care, and a few others, but she ignored the section titled "Sexual experience and skills", that part made her a little sick.

"Alright, looks like everything is in order here, it is time for you to take your brand before you head to medical for a full physical." He retrieved his wand from somewhere under the table, asked me to reach out my arm, and with a whisper of words my arm was glowing with numbers that he was magically branding me with. The pain was similar to being burnt, but it felt more like a deep cut. I cried, I did not expect for me too, but I did as the number _242,834_ was inscribed onto me. That was the amount of other muggle born witches and wizards that had gone through this same process. This was nearly the amount we were expecting, but it was so many, too many, to think about. They all needed to be saved, and Hermione was suddenly having doubts about her job.

"All done, was not that bad was it? If you can just give me your wand now you can go through that door to medical." I handed over my wand, feeling the wood one last time under my fingers. It felt magical, which was a good thing because that meant she still was a witch. I watched as he dumped it into a box next to his table, which had dozens of wands in there, and headed threw the door to medical.


End file.
